1. Field
The present application relates to an electronic apparatus provided with a cooling structure for removing heat generated by a heat generating unit.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional electronic apparatus having an electronic component often has a heat collecting-radiating member and an air blower for the purpose of efficiently removing heat generated by a heat-generating unit such as the electronic component. The heat collecting-radiating member is a metallic member having a number of pleats (asperities) for increasing the surface area. The heat collecting-radiating member is called “fin”. The air blower is an apparatus for feeding a cooling wind to the pleats. The air blower is called “fan”.
A recent portable electronic apparatus is provided with a waterproof structure and a splashproof structure for allowing use of the apparatus in various environments. For providing the portable electronic apparatus with the waterproof and splashproof structures (hereinafter, both structures are called “waterproof property”), for example, it is required that a cabinet having heat-generating electronic components such as CPU is sealed for preventing intrusion of liquids. However, if a cabinet has a sealed structure, it will be difficult to keep a heat-radiating path for radiating heat generated by the heat-generating electronic components.
While the fan is effective for radiating heat collected at the fin, it needs an intake port for introducing outside air and an exhaust port for discharging heat radiated from the fin to the exterior. As a result, impurities such as dust will be mixed easily in the outside air introduced through the intake port, and the impurities will degrade the dustproof property of the electronic apparatus having the fan.
JP 2006-019384 A discloses an electronic apparatus provided with a cooling mechanism including both the waterproof property and the dustproof property. The electronic apparatus disclosed in JP 2006-019384 A has a fan, a heat pipe to conduct heat generated by the CPU to a heat-radiating fin, and a sealant to stop water between the heat pipe and an open hole.
However, since the sealant disclosed in JP 2006-019384 A is formed of soft materials such as monolithic material or adhesives, i.e. so-called paste or rubbers, degradation over age cannot be avoided, and thus the reliability in air tightness cannot be secured.
Furthermore, the sealant disclosed in JP 2006-019384 A lacks mechanical strength, since it is provided to seal by rolling up the wall of the heat pipe that penetrates the open hole, and its complex structure results in poor workability in assembly.